Erie Times-NewsConservatives needs to get back on track

Now that the end is in sight for this one-of-a-kind presidency, the Republican Party finds itself in a historical quandary. What is now referred to as Trumpism has not only cut an unprecedented swath through our political demographics, but also further severed its own party.

Monumental domestic and foreign failures aside, the most ludicrous political development has to be the legions (indeed, some 74 million voters) who steadfastly stand by in full support of whatever fodder this sycophant throws to them. This is precisely where the never-Trump conservatives, or Republican-in-name-only, as Trump calls them, must pick up the proverbial ball and throw support behind an actual human being. Conservatism is important to the fabric and diversity of our politics, but it cannot be goaded into submission by someone so unwilling to share any responsibility whatsoever.

Let Trumps egotistical and mean-spirited bravado fall on deaf ears. The Edison Survey exit poll shows that 10% of Joe Bidens votes came from disgusted Republicans and doesnt include those that left the party because of Trump. Surely the conservative powers that be should recognize the damage done to the party (not to mention the nation) and support candidates on the right who will champion their policies without the alienation, division, racism and nativism we have been subjected to these four long years. I bet the ad makers at the Lincoln Project would be glad to pitch in.

Dudley Brown,Erie

As my friend and I were enjoying a recent lunch at Cracker Barrel, our server informed us that our bills had been paid by another customer. We were of course thrilled, even more so since neither of us had ever experienced anything like this before. Many thanks to this person for such a kind gesture to a couple of strangers best wishes for happy holidays!

Patty Winslow,Erie

I had to laugh when I read Ed Palattella's story about Congressman Kelly's latest defeat in the Supreme Court. How appropriate that his Pittsburgh lawyer is named Teufel. That translates from the German to English as "devil."

Somebody needs to tell these losers to grow up. But since nobody will, I will. Grow up and act like a man.

Bob Kuhn,Girard

Holy cow! Donald Trump is not only a loser, he's a certified loser. Imagine that!

Jim Mack, Millcreek

Here we are in the throes of some kind of killer disease, and our leaders don't seem to be able to get it together enough to lead us through it. They are fighting with each other like a bunch of children over who gets the biggest ice cream cone. Very sad.

Many of them seem to want to rule with an iron hand but can't seem to accomplish this illegal task. Most of them don't even know the limits of their power and haven't even given a thought to explaining carefully to their people the best ways to handle the situation.

No, instead, they went off the deep end and passed down mandates that they really can't enforce. They have allowed violence to invade our country and rather than fight the violence with law enforcement, many have just taken the side of the rioters and looters and, in some cases, have actually defunded the enforcers, the police! Wow!

Maybe this disease has infected their thinking powers! When will it end? There are those who seriously believe that the swearing-in of a new president will end it. What about the rest of the countries in the world? They are not totally guided by our political goings on!

It is truly a devastating virus and cannot be stopped by the actions of any politicians. If only the country could come together and the politicians could stop lying to us, and the media would stop spewing lies, maybe we could get a true antidote perfected to stop the suffering of so many of our relatives and friends. Maybe! Is it too much to hope for?

Robert Wurst,Erie

Congressman Mike Kellys quest to disenfranchise me and many other constituents who mailed or delivered our ballots to the Erie County Courthouse for the Nov. 3 presidential election can be described by the following words and phrases. For starters, the simple word "denied" is in the opinion that was unanimously adopted by the U.S. Supreme Court in its response to Kellys desperate appeal.

Kellys actions have been called an affront to Constitutional democracy. They are unfounded, meritless, speculative, outrageous, seditious abuse, baseless, a sham, nonsensical, embarrassing, futile, childish and frivolous.

Voters choose the president, not lawyers or members of the General Assembly. In a fair election after all legal votes were counted in Pennsylvania, Joe Biden received 80,500 more votes than Trump. For his aborted efforts to steal the election, Kelly fails again to represent me or the majority of residents in Congressional District 16. I believe he may be vulnerable to sanction.

Theres no evidence supporting claims of fraud in this years presidential election. Perhaps Trumps electoral win four years earlier was more rife with fraud.

Al Richardson,Erie

Columnist Mark Thiessen lives with one foot in the world of rational conservatism and the other in Trumps fantasyland. He recently argued that we should blame China for the spread of COVID-19 in America. It is certainly true that had China acted more quickly and honestly the disease might have been controlled to some extent, but even that is not certain.

What we do know is that once the virus hit America, Trump failed to respond, saying the virus would go away quickly or was a hoax perpetrated by the left. Against advice of his own medical experts, he pushed hard to open the economy, refused to wear a mask, held superspreader events and promoted violence by supporting alt-right militias and groups opposed to wearing masks or shutting down part of the economy for safety.

We absolutely know that had Trump acknowledged the danger of the virus, mobilized testing and production of personal protective equipment and supported scientifically proven safety measures, thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands, of Americans would still be alive. I dont know if Marc Thiessen believes the rubbish he wrote, but continuing Trumps lying legacy is not merely unethical, it is a continuing danger to the health of Americans. I look forward to the return of honesty, compassion, dignity, science and the rule of law to the White House.

Robert Martin, Millcreek

The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Associationand the governor's office made a great decision in the spring of 2020 to cancel interscholastic athletic programs due to COVID-19. This caused disappointment for the high school seniors involved and their parents but was the right thing to do to protect the health of students, family members, coaches, faculty, fans and the community from the deadly pandemic. Then the fall came and the PIAA and the governor's office left their common sense at the door and allowed interscholastic sports.

Guidelines were established and followed, including mask wearing, social distancing (when possible), temperature checks, symptom reviews and strict cleaning. However, the most dangerous piece of COVID-19 cannot be accounted for without daily 100% COVID-19 tests, and then people can still get through the net. That uncountable piece is the many asymptomatic people who are walking time bombs. That also makes COVID-19 so different from any other disease we have ever had to deal with and a reason why interscholastic sports should not be allowed until we have herd immunity due to a large portion of the population being vaccinated.

This disease is causing suffering and killing too many people. We need to sacrifice interscholastic athletics, no matter how painful, to help reduce the spread. We need to think of the public healthfirst. The political pressure should be ignored. Common sense should prevail.

Tod Allen,North East

In the Dec. 6 column Guest view: State leads in recycling plastics, founder of International Recycling Group Mitch Hecht claims that a new plastics sorting plant in Erie would accelerate a recycling paradigm shift with a process called chemical recycling.

The premise of his article is true: Our recycling system is broken. But, contrary to Hechts claims, chemical recycling would only exacerbate our plastic waste crisis.

Chemical recycling is the process of turning plastic a product which, in Pennsylvania, is made from components of fracked gas back into a fossil fuel. For IRGs proposed facility in Erie, this would mean selling your recycled plastic products to a nearby Canadian steel company which would inject them straight into a blast furnace and burn them.

The Erie facility would burden local communities with a steady stream of loud, pollution-ridden trucks. And, thanks to the recent passage of House Bill 1808, the facility would also contribute to a larger movement away from traditional recycling and towards a system that increases demand for single-use plastic, leads to more fracking and plastic production in the state and poisons communities with toxins and heavy metals released during the chemical recycling process.

Its true that plastics are choking our waterways and filling up landfills. But the solution is not chemical recycling. This industry greenwashing provides cover for companies eager to ramp up plastic production while deluding the rest of us into thinking recycling still means reuse. The real solution: Produce less plastic and the first step is demanding the full truth on chemical recycling.

Emily Persico, PennFuture policy analyst

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Letters: Never-Trumpers, truth in politics, Mike Kelly - GoErie.com